Today we will continue our series entitled “God’s Grace & Our Faith.” We are looking at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. Our primary scriptures are John 1:14 & 17. We have also been looking at the fruit of the Holy Spirit from Galatians 5:22,23. Let’s go back to those again today.
(John 1:14 New International Version)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:17 New International Version)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 5:22,23 The Passion Translation)
But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions:
joy that overflows,
peace that subdues,
patience that endures,
kindness in action,
a life full of virtue,
faith that prevails,
gentleness of heart, and
strength of spirit.
Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.
So what does this mean for you today? I will spend a few days discussing faith. This message will be somewhat of a faith refresher.
1. Understanding faith.
First of all, I will address what faith is NOT.
— Faith is not about you telling God what to do because (believe me) you can’t.
— Faith is not about you coming up with something in your heart and then asking God to give it to you.
— Faith begins where the will of God is known. And since God already mapped out your life before the world began, you need revelation concerning what God already planned.
— Once God reveals to you what He planned, He is basically telling you what is already yours. He is revealing to you what He has already provided.
— Your job is to then believe and receive, by faith, what God already freely provided, by grace! Understanding this, you realize that faith must begin in God’s heart and not yours.
— Here is something I learned a long time ago: “If you come up with it, it will be too small for God. When God comes up with it, it will be too big for you.” This is why you need faith to believe it!
2. What is faith?
The writer of Hebrews said, “Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists” (Heb 11:1 ESV). Faith comes down to simply being sure and certain. You must be sure of what God said/promised and certain that He will deliver on His promise, even when you cannot validate the promise with your senses. You must be sure and certain even when the promise makes no sense at all. And you must be sure and certain until you see in your hands what you have already received in your heart.
Going back to the ‘sure and certain’ part. Anyone can be sure and certain when they first receive a Word from God. They get excited. They tell their friends what God said. They put it in their journal. They add it to their vision board. But when the days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and months turn into years, every one of us feels the pressure to give up on what we believe God for. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. There is where we need the grace of God. The grace of God is on you to live by faith. The Holy Spirit will remind you of what God said and motivate you to KEEP BELIEVING. When you are at the point of giving up hope and on the brink of releasing the grip on your faith, something will happen, and the Holy Spirit will use that situation as a reminder of God’s promise. This will help you to remain in faith. You have to be sure and certain. And you have to remain this way until you SEE what God SAID! This is the life of faith!
Here are 5 working definitions of faith:
a) Faith is the confident assurance that God will do what He said He would do.
b) Faith is the UNSEEN EVIDENCE of the things promised that we cannot see in the natural.
c) Faith is perceiving as real what you cannot verify or validate with your senses.
d) Faith is an expression of your confidence in God and/or His Word when you have no sense-realm evidence to support it. (If you have sense-realm evidence, you don’t need faith).
e) Faith is your total reliance on God to do what He said He would do!
3. You don’t convince God. God convinces you!
Faith is not about you trying to convince God to give you what you came up with. Faith is about God trying to convince you to believe and receive what He planned from the foundation of the world.
a) To live by faith, your confidence must be in God and what HE HAS ALREADY DONE! In heaven, in eternity, it is ALREADY DONE. For us on earth, it is only a matter of time.
b) Faith is not about YOU convincing God to agree with your plans. Faith is what happens when God convinces you to accept and align with the plans He made for you before the world began. Faith is not about you persuading God. True faith is what happens when God persuades you! When you get to this point, when you are fully persuaded of what God promised and that He will do what He said, you can live with fearless confidence. Because at that point, your confidence is NOT in you. Your confidence is in God!
c) When your confidence is in God, and what he has already done, you don’t take on any pressure to perform, you don’t rely on your humanity at all, and you can actually feel the weight/pressure fall off of you as you enter into God’s rest. The highest form of faith is rest. True faith is what happens when you enter into God’s rest because you know that as far as God is concerned, it is ALREADY DONE. And for you, on earth, it is only a matter of time.
d) When you get to this point, you can live with a faith that is not moved by what it sees in the natural. Because what you have seen in the spirit is more real to you than what you are seeing in this world. Paul said it this way: “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:18). What you see down here, in the earth, is temporary. It is subject to change. But what God revealed to you in the spirit is not. It is permanent. It is ALREADY DONE. It is only a matter of time before you see it in the natural. So to truly live by faith you cannot be moved by what you see. You must only live by what God said! You live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Mat 4:4), and you do so by God’s grace, as you are led of His Spirit.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I am a believer and not a doubter. I walk by faith and not by fear. I walk by faith and not by sight. I believe what You reveal to me by the Holy Spirit, and I am not moved by what I see with my natural eyes. The UNSEEN is more real to me than the SEEN.
I believe every Word You have ever spoken over my life. I believe every promise You have revealed to me. And I will continue to believe until I see, in my hands, what You revealed, in my heart. I am not moved by what I see down here. I am only moved by what You say and what You reveal from UP THERE!
I live by every Word You speak to me. I live by the Holy Spirit. I am not trying to convince You to give me what I want. You have already convinced me to believe and receive what You want. This is the life of faith. It is also #TheGraceLife. I am not performing to get you to bless me. I am believing and receiving what You already planned for me. Living this way, I enter into You REST daily! And I am fully persuaded that GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
